Ahhhhhh….like music to my ears. I absolutely love this institution. No, it is not Big Ten crazed like my O State (Go Bucks!), but it fulfilled my life in other ways. The very place where I began my graduate journey…
NYU always seems to find a uniquely impressive way to merge academics with the arts, not just have them co-exist on the same campus. I am talking about true collaborative effort taking place within so many of their non-traditonal academic programs. Especially the Educational Communications Technology (ECT) graduate program within the Steinhardt School of Education. The doctoral program is ideal for any educational technologist looking to bring their understanding of learning technologies to a whole new level. ECT Studies @ NYU is arguably one of the most well designed graduate programs (at both the MA and PhD level) available in our field. The curricula screams innovative leadership and training.
The most impressive part of their initiative, from my perspective of course, is the focus on video and interactive web-based learning environments as valid technologies to be used for learning. Many higher ed institutions whose curricula have a strong foundation in education, usually, lack the creative design and development training we need as educational technology designers. Believe me, I know this! I am constantly on the web searching for doctoral programs with a solid foundation in the learning process and a clear vision into the future demands of our profession; it is truly rare to find them, especially amongst the more prestigious universities…for all my Academician Snobs out there
Some of my favorite aspects of the NYU ECT Doctoral Programare:
Major focus on the design and development of educational video & web (incl. audio/sound editing)
Focus on cognitive learning and teaching strategies
Student teaching opportunities throughout New York City school system, businesses, non-profits, etc.
Multiple educational research opportunities, incl. digital research
Top educators and educational technologist as professors and mentors
Focus on learning technologies for areas outside of the typical K-12 sector: non-profit, training, adult education, etc.
Home to CREATE, the Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education
Since they both are used for our DTP needs, that was my question. This morning, I viewed a really good tutorial that helped answer that question. To give credit and thanks, it was created by the people over at Lynda.com (YouTube ID: “lyndapodcast”).
This InDesign CS3 Tutorial focuses on workflow, showing how efficient InDesign3 can be for the followingDTP tasks:
creating a layout,
creating text and image frames,
importing text and images from other non-ID files,
editing those imported frames,
working with multiple layers, and
working in between multiple Adobe programs (as I do daily).
…Know of any other good tutorials out there that cover Adobe products? If so, Please leave the URL as a comment.
Today, I came across this on going, open source eLearning xHTML editor called, eXe.
According to the CLPT website (Center for Learning & Performance Technologies), it is considered one of the Top 100 Authoring Tools amongst eLearning professionals….hmmmm? :-X
Anywho, eXe allows teachers and designers to edit HTML for online lesson authoring; it also easily integrates into many LMS (Learning Managment Systems, i.e. Blackboard & WebCt).
More of my work is demanding HTML and XML for web-based content, therefore this may be a solution to my disease, LIPLL (Low-Intermediate Programming Language Literacy, pronounced “lipple” ). So, I figured I would download eXe and give it a go!
Instructional Designers (or anyone working in a technology-based field) should not wait in exhausting highway traffic…airport lines…or hold up a boardroom in order to collaborate with team members. Personally, I would prefer to work from home…It’s not like we tech people actually “talk” to one another.
For this 8 week CBT (Computer-Based Training) Project, I was working with 2 out-of-state IDs. Design & Development went pretty smoothly thanks to our use of several Online Meeting/Collaboration Tools. Simple trial and error…figuring out which was most capable of handling all of our file transfer and presentation needs…e-mail just doesn’t “do it” for certain project tasks.
In the spirit of sharing & caring, I created aFeature Analysis Chartof 4 programs (AOL, iVisit, GoToMeeting & Adobe Connect) we tried out…
Some Additional Pros & Cons…
AOL CHAT (a Download):Simple if you already have a Screenname, but who wants co-workers or supervisors seeing our obnoxious away messages…I don’t.
iVisit (a Download): Too boring and limited; Requires an annoying code for log-in; Set up is more like something from the late 90s…yawn.
GoToMeeting (Wed-based): Great online tool; Unlimited amount of meetings; Voice conferencing available
Adobe Connect Professional (Web-based): Strictly web-based; Host has ability to maneuver through personal computer while audience/other connected members watch; Voice conferencing also available; Need for a definite high speed connection when presenting info…you and your dial-up modem holding up everyone’s time = sooooo embarrassing.
Finally!!! I am so proud of them for actually recognizing the needs of the eLearning and Instructional Design communities. I simply think it is “hott” idea that couldn’t have come any sooner. Some of the most effective software programs I have used for instructional design and learning media are included:
Adobe FrameMaker8: for all our technical document publishing needs (You already know how I feel about FM8.)
Adobe Captivate 3: for creating some of the hottest & interactive (Flash-based) courses, presentations and assessments
Adobe Acrobat 3D: Okay, Pause! I have yet to use 3D because I do not need do much collaboration on engineering and architectural type of projects (i.e. those where I have to view ‘all sides’ of an object…Urgh! Blah!). Still, it’s a niiiiiice product for those who need the whole “3D Collabo”
Adobe RoboHelp 7: for the creation of help systems. I have used this product once before during the development of a mock Computer-Based Training (CBT) Learning Program. But, from what I recall, it is also really helpful for any designer or new media artist who has difficulty relinquishing all control over to IT.
“Salve, Genti Pubblici!” I’m back with post numero due…
I am thinking of doing a series of posts on the numerous careers that fit under the Educational Technology umbrella. Hmmm…perhaps this will be the 1st?! I’m not quite sure @ the moment.
Anywho…In my wonderful job search I came across so many positions that my education and skill as an Instructional Designer qualified me for. Instead of doing a bunch of boring textual information , I am embedding this really brief, to-the-point video presentation I found on YouTube. Thanks, zoghart!
Some of the careers that made the cut are: Instructional Designers (of course…we’re the best), eLearning Analysts, Multimedia Developers, Learning Development Managers, K12 Techies, Technology Teachers, Web Accessibility Specialists, and more…
…hope you find it helpful. Now I know what to go after for my next job.
I was thinking of doing a whole ‘page’ dedicated to Adobe Products and their role in Educational Technology. Specifically, for the instructional designers responsible or interested in Desktop Publishing (DTP). But, for the sake of time…one post will have to do for now.
For my current position as an instructional designer, I was asked to have some knowledge of Adobe FrameMaker8 (FM for the purposes of creating structured templates for documents to be accessed by students in an online learning environment. Another eye opening moment in the Instructional Technology Design job search! Previously, MS applications such as Word and Publisher are what I preferred to utilize for my technical writing documentation. A new application just meant more time dedicated to a program that the next job wouldn’t even consider. So I thought!
Since working with FM 8 over the past few months, I learned there is a huge advantage to using this authoring/publishing software. As with just about all of the products created by Adobe, FM 8 takes into consideration the needs of (instructional) designers with varying levels of talent in document layout and use of white space. For a person who used to own a Coogi Sweater Dress, tasteful layout was not necessarily my best skill.
Therefore, I honor Adobe and the FM 8 Team for making my job a bit more enjoyable. Here are some of the features of FM 8 that I enjoy most:
Typical word processing/publishing projects can be combined with XML to create more visually stimulating templates for books, newsletters, reports, data sheets, etc.
When converted to a pdf, FM 8 will automatically create bookmarks based upon the layout and hierarchy of the document. Such a time saver when you have a 10+ page document to map/bookmark.
Ability to include rich, multimedia from Adobe Flash and Adobe Captivate (both of which I use heavily for the creation of learning objects and assessments)
MS Excel Graphs and MS Word Documents are easily integrated into the FM 8 templates.
There are a fair amount of structured and unstructured templates that I have used to lay the foundation for creating templates that fit my needs.
Top 5 Templates: FAQ, Index, Graduate Thesis Paper, Newsletter, and Harvard Outline…all of which can be time consuming when developing from ’scratch’
Picks up where InDesign leaves us hanging…FM 8 is made specifically for the creation of looooong, exhausting template-based textual documents (i.e. eBooks or eContent for an online course).
It is good practice to give the cons with the pros. So, here they are…the 2 (yes, only 2) issues I have with FM 8:
No integration with MS Publisher, and
Not enough varying font color choices…Step it up ADOBE!!!
Obviously, these are the opinions of a fairly new Instructional Designer. For more info on Adobe FM 8, check the following resources:
This is my ‘Edutech Geek Blog’ on all things educational/instructional technology. Digital Design, Digital Divide, Computer-Based Media, eLearning, Web 2.0, Learning Wikis, and all other related technologies will be discussed. I figure my career field is still a growing baby, about to hit the toddler stage, and with all the hooplah over the use of technology for learning, I’d like to educate the public on why learning technologies are the answer to many of our issues in American education (on all levels).
A little about me: An instructional designer, studying New Media Design @ DePaul University The broader goal is to merge a theatre & education background with new media design for a career in Educational Media and Television Production. My Edutech LinkLog can be found at: http://del.icio.us/dfench …
Indeed I am very excited to be blogging, seeing as I have tried to stay away from placing my unique perspective of our crazy world on the Internet. In my mind I’ll get a six-figure job with the government, they’ll research me, find some old anti-’whatever’ posts, then BOOM! I’m fired, in this economy. No thanks. So, I’m sticking to an area that I am absolutely fond of: Educational Technology, Educational Communications Technology, Instructional Technology…all things technology-based used for learning and informational purposes.
). So, I figured I would download eXe and give it a go!
